The Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association (OSMA), a private foundation housed on the campus of Oberlin College, is administered by a Board of Trustees, a Student Committee, and an Executive Director. OSMA's purpose is to foster international respect and understanding through educational exchange with Asia. It offers graduating seniors and first year alumni of Oberlin an opportunity to live and work in an Asian culture for two years as Oberlin Shansi Representatives. In addition to sending representatives abroad, Shansi offers study and teaching fellowships for Asian and Oberlin faculty and students and support for Asia related programs and events at Oberlin. Each year, the Shansi Student Committee and Trustees select up to seven representatives to send to Asia. Representatives receive travel expenses from OSMA and a stipend from the Asian institution at which they study and work. They generally teach English in an Asian university and study language and culture, although for a time during the 1960's and 1970's, a limited number of "experimental" representatives devised their own programs of work and study that did not necessarily involve teaching English.

OSMA has its roots in the fervor for foreign missions that characterized the United States in the late nineteenth century. In January of 1881, a group of twelve students, primarily from Oberlin's Graduate School of Theology, applied to the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (ABCFM) to volunteer their services as a group, the Oberlin Band, for mission work, preferably in China. The ABCFM approved the plan and between 1882 and 1900, thirty Americans served in the Shansi province of northern China under the auspices of ABCFM. Nineteen were Oberlinians; the remainder were their wives or non-Oberlin doctors. At this time, the China Secretary of ABCFM, to whom the Oberlin Band reported, was Judson Smith, former Professor of Church History at the Oberlin's Graduate School of Theology. The primary focus of these missionaries was evangelism, but they also engaged in other service-directed activities. Concentrating on the cities of Taiku and Fenchow, the Oberlin Band organized churches, established schools, carried on medical work and famine relief, and set up opium refuges in an attempt to cure people of their addictions.

In March 1900, the Boxer Movement spread to Shansi when the Empress Dowager appointed the strongly pro-Boxer Yu Xian as governor of the Province. On July 31, the missionaries and many of their Chinese helpers and converts at Taiku were killed by a mob. On August 15, missionaries at Fenchow met the same fate. Foreign troops moved into Shansi and Yu Xian was removed. In 1902, Irenaeus J. Atwood, Graduate School of Theology Class of 1881, returned to arrange for local restitution and indemnities. As a result of the settlement, the ABCFM mission acquired property outside the eastern gate of Taiku. The property, known as the "Flower Garden," became the gravesite for many of the martyrs of 1900 and later became the site of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Schools.

In 1903, the Memorial Arch on Tappan Square on the grounds of Oberlin College was dedicated. A strong desire persisted, however, to further memorialize the martyrs by continuing the educational aspects of their work in Shansi. President Henry Churchill King, the YMCA and YWCA secretaries, representatives of the Oberlin Band of Student Volunteers for Foreign Missions, and others promoted the idea of an educational memorial in China. That effort culminated on January 30, 1908, with the establishment of the OSMA, chaired by President King, to support educational work in connection with the ABCFM missions still operating in Shansi.

Kung Hsiang-hsi, an Oberlin graduate who had been a student in one of the mission schools in Taiku and had escaped to the United States following the Boxer uprisings, was invited to return to Taiku in 1908 to assume the leadership of OSMA's educational work. A school was built in the Flower Garden and Kung named the work Ming Hsien — "Remember the Worthy." While OSMA had financial responsibility for Ming Hsien, its work was closely intertwined with that of the ABCFM. For several years, Oberlin graduates appointed by the American Board played important roles at Ming Hsien as treasurers, vice-principals, and instructors. Paul L. Corbin, Franklin B. Warner, and Wynn C. Fairfield were among those involved. As Kung's increasing regional and national political importance in China drew him away from Ming Hsien frequently, these Oberlinians who could communicate with both the Board and OSMA played even more important roles. Kung resigned as principal of Ming Hsien in 1928 and went on to serve as Finance Minister and Premier of Nationalist China. He continued to serve on the Board of Managers until the fall of the nationalist government in 1949.

At first, OSMA raised funds through annual drives and "Shansi Days" at Oberlin College. In the 1920's, however, OSMA received $750,000 from the Charles Martin Hall estate (See Subgroup IV, Series 4). As a result of this endowment, OSMA incorporated under the laws of the State of Ohio. The by-laws of the association called for the establishment of a Ming Hsien Board of Managers in China to handle local governance of the schools. This new administrative structure, together with a rising tide of Chinese nationalism, led to major changes at Ming Hsien. In 1925, the position of vice-principal, which had been held by missionaries, was abolished and a Chinese graduate of both Ming Hsien and Oberlin College, Qiao Jinliang, was appointed administrative dean. In 1927, Ming Hsien was registered with the national government and thus came under regulations of the Chinese Ministry of Education. As a result, mandatory Bible courses and church attendance were abolished in favor of voluntary, extra-curricular Bible classes. While a Christian motivation and spirit persisted, the aim of OSMA and Ming Hsien during this period gradually evolved from evangelism into one of Christian service to China.

As the administration of OSMA and Ming Hsien evolved, so did the program of the Association and its schools. By 1918, the need for English teachers had become urgent. That year, Ming Hsien invited Lewis E. Davis, son of Francis and Lydia Lord Davis, to come for a year to teach English. The following year, John L. Davis joined his brother. In 1920, OSMA picked up the responsibility for appointing Oberlin College graduates to go to China for two or three years to teach English. They went as representatives of Oberlin College and the annual appointment of representatives became central to OSMA's program. The Shansi Student Committee selected representatives, who were subsequently appointed by the OSMA Board of Trustees. The first representatives were men, but since 1928, both men and women have been appointed. Eventually, support of representatives came from the student activity fee, with two dollars collected for each student assigned to the program. Indicative of the growing secularization of OSMA, the representatives were not missionaries. They taught, coached athletics, and led a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. Many returned to Oberlin College for a year of service on campus to promote OSMA through events, student clubs, the Shansi Student Committee, and, for a time, through publishing the Dragon Tracks newsletter. Beginning in 1927, OSMA also brought Chinese administrators and faculty of Ming Hsien to the United States to study at Oberlin, in the graduate school of an American university, or both.

During the late 1920s and 1930s, the program of Ming Hsien expanded beyond the primary and secondary schools that had been the focus for the first two decades. In 1927, Raymond T. Moyer started the Agriculture Department, a primarily experimental program that sought to develop better seeds and farm animal breeds for the Shansi province. The Industrial Department began in 1931 under the leadership of Li Tingkui in an effort to develop some of the simple technology needed to assist in the establishment of small-scale rural industry. Working closely with the Agriculture Department, the Industrial Department developed new plows, water wheels, and deep-well pumps. Wu Shouming (a.k.a. Mark Wu) started the Department of Rural Service in 1935. Centered at the village of Guanjiapu near Taiku, that department addressed problems of illiteracy and public health and established clinics, a rural credit cooperative, and classes in agricultural and industrial technology and home economics.

With the invasion of northern China by Japanese troops in 1937, Ming Hsien was forced to move southward and westward to get out of reach of Japanese troops. This movement, which occurred in five phases covering 1300 miles, became known as "the trek." The final resting place of the schools was Ch'intang in Szechuan province. During this period of movement, only one representative, Herbert Van Meter, was able to reach Ming Hsien. Once the program settled at Ch'intang, however, the flow of representatives resumed.

During the first years in Szechuan, the program prospered, but the political turmoil, financial hardships, and physical deprivation caused by the Sino-Japanese War, World War II, and civil war between nationalist and communist forces within China took a tremendous toll. The year 1951, when China sided with North Korea in the Korean War and ended diplomatic relations with the United States, began a thirty year hiatus of OSMA operations in China.

The end of the long Oberlin commitment in China led to a modification of OSMA's program and expansion to other parts of Asia. New emphasis was placed on student and faculty exchange programs. Major institutions involved included Obirin Gakuen and Nagoya University in Japan, American and Lady Doak Colleges in Madurai, India, and Tainan Boys School and Tunghai University in Taiwan. Later occasional exchanges occurred with colleges and universities in Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, Afghanistan, and the Philippines. The program in India halted for eight years beginning in 1970 by action of the Indian government, but resumed when U.S. relations with India began to thaw in the late 1970's and early 1980's. A similar warming of relations with the People's Republic of China culminated with the return of OSMA to the Shansi province in 1980. While the old Ming Hsien program was never reinstated, a student and scholar exchange program comparable to the ones in other parts of Asia was established. The program in China also included exchange of library materials between Oberlin College and the Taiyuan Institute of Engineering and Shansi Agricultural University. The exchange program with China was once again phased out in the mid-1980's.

Restrictions: Certain materials in Subgroups II and IV are restricted, as noted on the inventory.

Acquisition Note:

Provenance

Records of the Oberlin Shansi Memorial Association were acquired in fourteen lots between 1967 and 1991. Margaret Leonard directed the transfer of files from the OSMA office to the Archives in 1967, 1981, twice in 1987, twice in 1988, and twice in 1990. One lot of photographs arrived in 1991. Ellsworth Carlson transferred files in 1985. Carl Jacobson and Peg (Margaret) Leonard directed the transfer of the accessions in 1990. Four lots came from the Oberlin College Library in 1968, 1972, 1976, and 1987. Seventeen more accessions were received from the OSMA office in accessions 1996/098 1997/068, 1997/80, 1997/088, 1997/089, 1998/87, 1999/34, 1999/70, 2000/51, 2000/67, and 2000/80, 2000/112, 2001/005, 2001/039, 2001/065, 2001/093, and 2002/015. In 1998, 0.4 linear feet of records were transferred from the papers of President Starr. Additional material was transferred from the Oberlin College Library, Special Collections, in 2001 (2001/094). Additional transfers from OSMA occurred in the years between 2004 and 2012.

In 2008, the centennial of Shansi’s founding, 18.83 linear feet of material donated by former Shansi representatives, fellows and other personnel was transferred from the OSMA office after the centennial celebration. These materials comprised scrapbooks, photograph albums, loose photographs, films, videotapes, audio recordings, objects, correspondence and miscellaneous paper materials. The scrapbook on Oberlin’s Gamelan was given to Shansi by Molly Johnson, former assistant to president Nancy S. Dye, transferred to Archives in accession 2008/039. In 2011 a digital project funded by the Mellon Foundation, “Shansi: Oberlin and Asia,” encompassed the professional transfer of sixteen films to Betacam and DVDs for preservation and public access [accession number 2011/039]. The Japanese government signboard of 1868 was given to the College’s Religion Department by Jerome Davis in 1916; it was transferred to the Archives in 2014

Finding Aid Revisions: Processed by: Lisa Pruitt and Cindy Nickoloff, October 1988. Revised February 1994, June 1996, July 1996, September 1996, May 2, 1997 by Tara Ikenouye, July 1998 by Julie A. Petersen, July 1999 by Ken Grossi, June 2000 by Beth Spalding, September 2000 by Melissa Gottwald, September 2001 by Rebecca Deeb. New accessions between 2001 and 2012 processed by Anne Cuyler Salsich, September 2012 and revised June 2013 and June 2014. Accession 2012/054 processed in 2013-14 by Carl Jacobson. Revised May-June and August 2014 by Anne Cuyler Salsich.

The records of OSMA date from 1881 to the present and document the activities of Oberlinians in Asia during that period. Earlier records discuss missionary activities of the Oberlin Band such as evangelism, teaching, medical work, and the operation of opium refuges in the Shansi province of northern China. The bulk of these records, however, deal with the education activities of OSMA, which was formed as a living memorial to those Oberlin missionaries who died in the Boxer Rebellion of 1900.

Administrative and financial records of the OSMA from 1908-1981 document the founding and operations of primary and middle schools, and later a college, in Shansi. Extensive correspondence and numerous reports provide insight into the lives of the Chinese people in this era and the lives of American men and women living and working in China. These people observed first hand and regularly reported on political events and social issues in China, from the founding of the Nationalist government, to the invasion by the Japanese and the ensuing Sino-Japanese War, and to the eventual triumph of communist forces, ending American diplomatic relations and thus OSMA's work in China. Major corespondents include H. H. Kung, Mark Wu, Lydia Lord Davis, Wynn C. Fairfield, and Herbert Van Meter. Photographs, negatives, slides, and audio tapes provide extensive visual documentation of the time and place. A selection of glass lantern slides have been highlighted and described on an addendum page. Student essays and art work of very high quality provide the Chinese perspective.

Records from 1950 to the present trace the secularization of OSMA and document the transformation of its programs to an emphasis on two-way exchange of students and scholars. Administrative correspondence offers a look at the role of cultural exchange in both higher education and international relations (and vice versa). Extensive correspondence with both American and Asian students and scholars paints a detailed picture of the impact of cultural exchange on the individual.

In 2008 OSMA celebrated its centennial, sparking an influx of materials donated by former representatives and others associated with Shansi. Most of the materials are audiovisual, including films, photographs, photograph albums, audio recordings, scrolls, currency, and other artifacts primarily from the 1920s through the 1940s, with some later materials.

Records of the OSMA have been arranged into the following subgroups and series:

Subgroup I. Oberlin China Band

Series 1. Minutes (correspondence contained in the book)

Series 2. Correspondence

Series 3. General File

Subgroup II. Administrative Records

Series 1. Constitution, Regulations, and Amendments

Series 2. Minutes

Series 3. Reports

Series 4. Correspondence

Series 5. Committees

Series 6. Financial Records

Series 7. General File

Series 8. Directory of Representatives

Series 9. Executive Officers

Subseries 1. Margaret H. Leonard

Subseries 2. Carl W. Jacobson

Subgroup III. Program Areas

Series 1. China

Subseries 1. Ming Hsien

Subseries 2. Yunnan University

Series 2. Madurai, India

Series 3. Taiwan

Series 4. Japan

Series 5. Thailand

Series 6. Indonesia

Series 7. Korea

Subgroup IV. Representatives

Series 1. Reports and Letters

Series 2. Questionnaires

Series 3. Correspondence * (Restricted)

Series 4. Unsuccessful Applicants * (Restricted)

Series 5. Diaries of Student Representatives * (Restricted)

Series 6. Correspondence of Non-Representatives

Series 7. Materials Received from Representatives and Non-Representatives for the 2008 Centennial